Honor of Thieves
by Raven Summersong
Summary: A young pickpocket discovers the turtles...and they hold her fate in their hands. ***Finished****
1. Cat

You learn quickly the shadows are your friend.  
  
They feed you. They protect you. They hide you.  
  
I think that's why we named ourselves for them.  
  
Honestly they're isn't even much of a "we". Just a rag tag band of street kids. Youngest is Rabbit. She's 11. Almost 12. Oldest is Steve. He's almost 21.  
  
Then there's me...Cat. That isn't my real name, but then, we don't throw our names around. 16 1/2. Heh. I know, the 1/2 doesn't matter but it makes me feel better.  
  
Older. More sure of things.  
  
We aren't a gang. Not even a group. But we come together when we can and share a warm corner for a night, food, and money.  
  
We help each other, when we need help we know who to go to.  
  
We call ourselves Shadow, to each other. But to the others here in the city, we don't exist.  
  
You start declaring yourself, and then people want to test you. See what the gang is made of. We don't care about status. Just survival. And keeping ourselves human.  
  
Honor Amongst Thieves and all that  
  
I'm a thief. Yes. A pickpocket. Yes. Maybe the best in New York. Maybe. Probably.  
  
But I have honor, and I have pride. And I don't want to look in the mirror and not know my own eyes. It's really easy to get cold here. Turn to stone. Some do it to survive, but I know better. That's death. Even if your body keeps living, when you stop caring you die.  
  
I care about Shadow. I care about the kids, I care about keeping them warm and safe and fed just like me.  
  
I care.  
  
They call me Cat because I'm quiet. And Because I'm fast and I'm agile. Steve says I have 9 lives. That makes me laugh.  
  
But I also see. I see everything.  
  
I see all the things other people won't or can't.  
  
I saw them. I know they're here.  
  
We hide out here in some of the abandoned Sewer maintenace rooms when it gets really cold. Its warm, and in the winter the smell isn't too bad.  
  
I only glimpsed them. And I don't think they saw me. A skinny girl, with too pale skin, dressed in dark clothes and an old leather jacket. Brown hair, long and shaggy. Sharp Hazel eyes. I'm plain. I'm nothing. The shadows love me.  
  
I only saw for a second. But I saw. And I know they're here. Somewhere.  
  
Somewhere. And I'll find them.  
  
You know what they say about Cats and curiosity. 


	2. The children of Shadow

"Silent now" Leo whispered to his brother. Mike grinned but nodded, and the two of them vanished in the dim shadow of the tunnel.  
  
They could hear the voices now. Young, teenagers. Not rowdy, but talking in low tones. Sometimes a laugh escaped and reached their ears.  
  
After a minute of creeping, murmurs became words. They could make out the voices of five people...a very young girl, two boys, and two girls. From the left. The door of the old equipment room was shut, but had fallen into disrepair and was slightly off its hinge, making the door hang 1/3 open.  
  
Mike knew why they were here. Down here the temperature had dropped decently. Despite the steam pipes, it was cool. Almost cold. Which meant above had to be worse. The NewsCast said the wind chill was below 0. These kids had no where warm to go but down. He felt sorry for them, and not for the first time wished they could go in, introduce themselves, and offer warm blankets and a place to sleep at the lair.  
  
He hated not being able to help.  
  
Leo's eyes were a little harder, but Mike also sensed pity from his brother. It was just that they were so damned close. To get warm, they had to go deep.  
  
Too close to home.  
  
One of the boys was talking "So then he says to the waitress 'Okay, but you have to promise to tell me about the specials."  
  
There was a good round of laughter at this even though it was muted.  
  
"A' Dingo, that was nasty!" Said one of the older girls.  
  
"I don't get it." Said the young girl, and the other older girl spoke soothingly "Best keep it that way, Rabbit."  
  
"I wanna get the joke Cat!"  
  
"Have another burger. No more nasty jokes Dingo. " Cat said.  
  
"Think it'll get warmer tomorrow?" The other boy said.  
  
"Better. Cats gonna freeze her whiskers off runnin' around in all this." Said the other girl.  
  
"Don't worry about me, Snickers." Said Cat "I got it all under control. promise. Tomorrow night, we eat like kings again. The Cat has your back."  
  
Snickers snorted "And modest too"  
  
"You forget stunningly beautiful" Said Cat and they chuckled.  
  
Leo frowned a little. They crouched in the dark listening, trying to get a sense of when these teens would be moving on. Hoping that they would leave and not present this danger. And at the same time, not wanting them to have to return to the cold. They both knew very well that death could wait for the homeless in this weather. Even those as lively and sturdy as these kids seemed to be.  
  
"Come on Rabbit. Sleepin' time." Said Cat, in a gentle tone.  
  
There was silence for a long time. The brothers turned and began to walk back when Mike stopped and turned his head. One of the girls was singing gently.  
  
"Blackbird singing in the dead of night  
  
Take these broken wings and learn to fly.  
  
All your life  
  
You are only waiting for this moment to arrive."[1]  
It was beautiful; the girl had a wonderful voice. But there was something in it that made a lump come to Mike's throat. *It's not fair* he thought.  
  
Leo touched his arm and they headed off in the dark.  
  
*******  
  
Raph looked around "We could scare 'em off. Or wait till they leave and seal the room off."  
  
Leo shook his head "We could expose ourselves if we try and scare them. and if we seal the room, they'll wonder who did it and why. it might make them more likely to find us."  
  
Mike looked around "They're kids. They just want a warm place to sleep. We take that, and they might freeze to death up there. We can't do that."  
  
"Mikey, I don't wanna hurt them neither, but....look....we gotta protect ourselves. What are we gonna do if they find us? Keep 'em as pets?"  
  
"We can't take their safe place." Said Mike "What if someone did that to us."  
  
Don didn't comment, just seemed to be thinking the matter over.  
  
Splinter looked at all of them "We do nothing for now, my sons. I am not convinced they are a danger. And I cannot condone turning children out into the cold. Even if it is to protect ourselves."  
  
They all nodded. Mike looked relived, Don thoughtful. Even Leo seemed a little relived. Raph frowned.  
  
*******  
  
Breakfast was cold greasy fast food from the night before. Cat was the first up, and she cracked the door open to have a look out into the main hall, and maybe an idea of the temperature.  
  
The door brushed a cardboard box. She looked down surprised, and then knelt to open it.  
  
Inside were faded but clean and patched wool blankets. And wrapped in tin foil was half of a cold, but obviously fairy fresh pizza. She found several small pillows. And a small, worn but obviously well loved teddy bear.  
  
Cat looked up and down the hall confused. She looked back down and smiled a little.  
  
"Hum.....We have an Angel." She said and then glanced around again. "Thanks"  
  
She took the box and ducked back in.  
  
----------------------- [1] "Blackbird." by The Beatles 


	3. Michaelangelo

If I knew she was going to see would I have done it anyway?  
  
You Betcha.  
  
I mean, look, they were the same as us. Just trying to get by. Just trying to stay together. Just kids in a big world.  
  
At least we had Master Splinter to be our dad. They just had each other.  
  
I watched to make sure they'd find it. And when she came out I knew which one she was. It was how she stood, and how her eyes moved around looking. Relaxed, but also ready.  
  
But she wasn't really a Cat. She should have been called "Tiger".  
  
There was something in the way the girl stood, the way she seemed so still but also so ready, that made me think of Leo. But there was a lightness to her face, something peaceful and...yeah....despite everything, happy...in her eyes. Content. I liked that a lot when I saw her.  
  
And she thanked me. She called me an Angel even though she didn't know I was there.  
  
Or maybe she did. I learned later she was good as seeing. She saw everything.  
  
That was the problem.  
  
But Even after all of this, I'm not sorry.  
  
I'm glad. For a second I saw her for real, and I knew if we could have been, we would be friends.  
  
Me and her. Friends.  
  
I'm not sorry at all. 


	4. Kindness of a Stranger

On the second morning she found a paper bag. Inside were two paperback books (one Stephen King and one Terry Pratchet) several chocolate candy bars, a loaf of raisin bread, several cans of fruit with and opener, and a six pack of Pepsi.  
  
Cat opened the bag back in the room and began to lay breakfast out. Steve, Snickers, and Dingo still slept. Rabbit was curled up with the old teddy bear. She was really too old for such things, but Cat just smiled. Let the little girl have her comfort. They saw little of that; they needed to get it where they could.  
  
Fifteen minutes later, all of Shadow was awake and enjoying breakfast.  
  
Snickers immediately began to munch the bread. She said she loved the stuff, that her mom had made it for her as a kid. Cat glanced at her from beneath her wild mane of her hair, and simply chewed. It was understood in Shadow that you didn't ask about the past. If people wanted you to know, they'd tell.  
  
Rabbit happily went to much her breakfast. Cat smiled "Whatcha gonna name him?"  
  
Rabbit grinned "Angel. That's what you called whoever's doing this, right?"  
  
Cat nodded "Yep."  
  
Snickers pulled at one of her dreadlocks thoughtfully "its funny, though. I mean, who hangs out in a sewer. That's weird."  
  
Steve smiled faintly and motioned to them all.  
  
"Yeah, but we're punks!" Snickers laughed. "This guys got food and stuff to spare."  
  
"Maybe a homeless guy that does ok." Said Cat.  
  
"Yeah" Said Dingo "Check this out, right? All this stuff, is like, worn. Used. And in kinda lame shape. Even the foods either leftovers or in beat up old cans. I bet its some homeless guy who found himself a little place, and sharing the wealth. Like what we do."  
  
Cat nodded "Makes sense....."  
  
"Makes me nervous. We don't know nothing about this guy." Said Snickers.  
  
"The foods not poisoned or we'd be dead" Said Steve with a chuckle,  
  
"Plus, look, he sends food and blankets right?" Said Cat  
  
"Or she" Said Dingo  
  
"Okay, they. They send food and blankets. Stuff we need. but then there's the bear. And the books, and the candy. Nice things. Things that most people have everyday. We don't need them, but they're good to have. You know. This personas not just nice...they're cool." Cat said.  
  
Snickers drained a Pepsi "all right. All right. Just weird is all I'm saying."  
  
"Oh yeah. We're normal." Said Rabbit dryly and they all laughed.  
  
*********  
  
Peanut butter. More bread. A six pack of Sunny D. Some more candy bars, now stolen from Raph's stash rather than his own. Chips Ahoy. Several batman, Superman, and X-men comics. The first of the Planet Racers graphic novels (April was getting him the second one soon) a couple of lighters, and a few candles. All of this went into the bag, and he made it out of the lair unseen.  
  
He was almost there when a hand came on his shoulder and murmured "Mikey."  
  
He turned. Don was leaning against the wall studying him with a look he couldn't read.  
  
"Oh man." He muttered "Busted."  
  
"I get it. That's where my Terry Pratchet novel vanished to."  
  
Mike fidgeted "You mad?"  
  
"No." Don sighed "I guess I just know you. But Mike, you have to be careful. I know how you feel but..."  
  
"They're just kids. Alone. like us."  
  
Don shook his head "They aren't like us......"  
  
"Because they're human."  
  
"Mike. Worst thing that happens to them is DSS. Worst thing that happens to us is a science Lab and a Dissecting table."  
  
"They won't. They won't even see me...."  
  
"Look. I...I'm glad your helping them. It's like you; you always were the softy of us." He smiled a little "but think about this. We'd be worth a lot of money up there. And a lot of money would help make them not homeless."  
  
"She wouldn't do that."  
  
"She?" Don asked.  
  
"Cat." Mike said  
  
"You know their names?"  
  
"I listen to them. I hide and I listen and I saw her. You'd know if you saw her, Don. It's in her face. She wouldn't do that. I know she wouldn't"  
  
Don sighed "I'm coming with you. Make the drop, and we get out of there."  
  
Mike nodded "Um.....Don't tell the others ok?"  
  
Don grinned "Raph'd rip your spleen out, and Leo would make you do Kata for three days straight."  
  
Mike smiled back.  
  
******  
  
She heard the noise. It was tiny. Hardly there. But it was what she had been waiting for. Softly cat was on her feet and moving to the door, silent amongst the sleeping teens.  
  
Her eyes lined up with the crack in the door. There was the bag, and a shadow moving away. No two shadows. She peered harder, and then one single shaft of light from around the corner lit them for just a second.  
  
Gray-green, and brighter green. Bald heads. Shells...they had shells. Her eyes widened as they vanished. They weren't human. Not even close. They were something...else. Something totally Alien.  
  
Cat didn't know what she felt. Just numb at first and then....she went back and lay in the dark, her mind turning.  
  
*****  
  
When mike came the next night, a note was tacked to the door, and the box from the first night sat below it.  
  
"Dear Angel, Weathers better, so we got to move on. Thanks for everything. Blankets, pillows, books, and all are in the box. Rabbit kept the bear; I hope that's ok. Made her real happy. We don't ever forget a debt.  
  
The Children of Shadow"  
  
And below that, a stick drawing of a cat.  
  
Mike folded the note and tucked it in the box.  
  
******  
  
Winter turned to spring and then the roaring heat of summer. Mike never forgot the group, but they were pushed to the back of his mind as their lives went on.  
  
On the streets of Manhattan, Cat never forgot for a single day. That single glimpse into something completely unknown. It lives in her, and grew in her. She found herself dreaming of it. And she made a discovery in late spring that really got her thinking.  
  
There were crawlspaces in the sewers. Small ducts that ran behind the steam pipes and gave you access to every room, and every hall. Every six feet or so, was a great you could open to work on pipes, or just look down from. The sewer workers used them, but many were abandoned.  
  
She could go anywhere. And watch unseen.  
  
Spring to summer. She waited. She planned. Her mind turned things over again and again.  
  
And one night in late June, she decided.  
  
It was time. 


	5. Donatello

Mike blamed himself.  
  
But really, it was just as much my fault as his.  
  
I was there that night. I could have stopped him. I could have made him go back.  
  
I didn't want to.  
  
I knew everything I said to him was right. I knew he was putting us in danger. But I also knew everything he said was true too. It came down to deciding which truth was more important to us. And I picked Mikey's truth as willingly as he did.  
  
Humanity, I've come to discover after all these years, isn't so much the skin you're born in but the person you become. We were as human as they were in that way. At least, I hoped that was true.  
  
It wasn't until later when I saw her, I understood what Mike had said. She had...something .......something I can't describe well....in her face, and her eyes. I always value logic, but this was something that wasn't logical. It was just.....there.  
  
Mike was right. There was something in her that was like us. Something that was tough enough to survive, but not cold.  
  
She was not cold at all. Even when she was ready to make us into something much less than human.  
  
Even when she was ready to sell our lives, I knew she wasn't cold. And I couldn't blame her.  
  
She didn't know us at all. And those kids, they were her family.  
  
She wasn't cold. She was just wrong. 


	6. Discovery

She had dared hunt on crimson turf again.  
  
Cat often did her work in the known territories of gangs. The crimsons. The dragons. The foot. Places most street kids avoided were ripe for the picking. Some of them, especially where the foot staked their claim, were pretty good ones. High class. She cleaned out, and so far she had always been lucky enough not to be caught.  
  
Tonight her luck would hold out. But just barely.  
  
She was being chased, but they hadn't seen her face. If she could get away, she could return. The best way was to go underground. Into the shadows.  
  
She saw the storm drain...one of the huge ones down near the subways, and was already sliding down it when she sensed her pursuers closing in. Her feet hit water, the thick black doc martins splashing it up. It was damned hot up there, and damned hotter down here.  
  
They would be after her in a moment. She glanced up, saw what she was looking for, and grabbed the pipe. With a breath she hoisted herself up amongst the pipes, trying not to imagine the rats, spiders, and gods knew what else was up here. There. One of the grates. She pressed a palm against it and it slid back. She lifted herself into the duct and slid the great past. She could see down through the pipes, but she was sure she was hidden. She crouched, and waited.  
  
Four of them. All boys about her age. All in street clothes, but she knew they were more than they looked.  
  
They rushed past, not even glancing up. She heard their feet splashing in water,. and then after a long moment, silence.  
  
She smiled to herself and touched her pocket. Six wallets. And almost $200 cash money. A great haul. A haul that would feed her for days. Feed the others too, if she could find them. She'd have to send out word to meet.....  
  
She looked into the dark of the crawlspace and thought *I could do a little exploring. Make sure the footboys are gone. Maybe look for...them .....a bit. Why the hell not? I have no where to be, and the day is young.*  
  
Softly, she began to crawl forward. Listening in the dark, lost in her own thoughts. The space was not as bad as she thought...a little dusty and once she jerked her hand back when something that felt like a bug or a spider, scrambled over her hand. But there were no rats, no smell, and she didn't encounter any more creepy crawlies.  
  
Not too bad at all.  
  
********  
  
Mike laughed and crashed over the sofa, the mars bar in one hand "Come on Raph, you're getting slow! Come and get it little doggy!"  
  
Raph dove after him, looking pissed, but his eyes gave him away. He was actually amused. The two brothers wrestled across the floor of the candy bar.  
  
Don rolled his eyes with a small smile from behind his book.  
  
*********  
  
She heard the crash and the laughter. She'd been on the move for almost two hours at that point. It was far away, but she followed it like a dog on a scent.  
  
She was very very very close. The question had occurred to her.  
  
*Why am I doing this?*  
  
She really couldn't answer it. Curiosity. Yes. And the thought that these...creatures...would be worth a lot had come up too. A LOT. She could get Rabbit off the street with that. She could become and emancipated minor; she could have a life.....a real life. A safe life. With money like that she could start all over again.  
  
But that wasn't all it either.  
  
She really didn't know. Her motivation was a mystery even to herself.  
  
But Cat didn't waste time thinking on unnecessary things too much. She could plan and plan well. But she was a creature of instinct first and foremost honestly.  
  
And she was going on pure instinct now.  
  
*********  
  
She watched them from her perch. The pipes his her from view, and she peered through the wire mesh. They were turtles. She could see that now in the dim light of their hide away. Some kind of humanoid turtles.  
  
Two were wresting on the floor. At first she thought it was a real fight, but quickly saw it was just horseplay. She knew one of them...even in that brief glimpse so long ago, it was etched in her memory.  
  
*He's the angel.*  
  
She smiled a little, triumphant.  
  
*** "Gimme the bar Mikey!" Raph said  
  
"Finders keepers!" Mikey stuck his tounge out  
  
"I'm gonna pound your shell if...." And then from above there was the groan of old twisted steal. Some of the pipes high against the ceiling sagged.  
  
The brothers looked up "What the...." Said Raph.  
  
****  
  
Cat felt the crawlspace floor sag. She thought *I am in a lot of trouble* and then the old rusted metal gave under her weight. The floor ripped open, spilling the teenaged girl into the air fifteen feet above the floor.  
  
*Oh shit* she thought and then the world shut off.  
  
She twisted once in the air and they all heard her body strike the pipes on the ceiling twice before rolling off and twisting toward the floor.  
  
Raph reacted first. He leapt forward, arms outstretched. The girl fell into them like a princess in a fairy tale, but her eyes were closed and her face pale. Blood was in her hair, and her right arm had been cut open from the elbow in a jagged tear six inches toward the shoulder. He could see flakes of rust in the cut.  
  
He didn't even think, just scooped up one of the blankets from the sofa and began to wrap her arm to stop the bleeding "Get Splinter" He ordered Mikey. 


	7. Raphael

Why?  
  
I dunno. I guess cuz...she fell into my arms. Like some damsel in distress.  
  
Mike says I always was a sucka' for ladies. I mean look at April, right?  
  
She hurt herself bad in the fall. I dunno much about that kinda thing, but anyone could see it. Her arm cut bad, her head bleeding. She was so pale, an' so light when I was holding her  
  
Like she was dead already.  
  
I wanted to kick Mikey's ass when I found out where she came from. Why she came.  
  
But at the same time, I guess I couldn't be too mad at him. I see why. I mean, I looked at her, an' I held her while she was helpless an' hurt an' all.  
  
An' I didn't want her to die. Even tho she was danger to us, I didn't want her to die.  
  
I wanted to help her. 


	8. A strange sort of guest

There was even darkness when she opened her eyes.  
  
She blinked, wondering if she had somehow blinded herself. But when she focused into the dark for a few moments, vague gray shapes became clear. And when she turned her head (slowly, gods it hurt like hell to move it) she saw light from a crack near the floor. A door was there.  
  
Voices outside. Angry.  
  
"What the hell are we gonna do with 'er?"  
  
"I don't know Raph. She's too hurt to move around right now." That was the angel.  
  
"Yeah, well that's only gonna last so long. What the hell are we gonna do!" Raph said again. "We can't keep 'er!"  
  
"It's useless to argue about it right now." Said a soft, calm voice. "She's here, and we have to do what we can for her."  
  
"Says who Donny? She was spyin'; on us, that makes 'er an enemy!"  
  
"You don't believe that anymore that I do, Raph." Said Donny.  
  
Cat tried to sit up more and only groaned. Her arm hurt, her chest hurt, her head hurt the worst.  
  
"She's gonna....."  
  
"Enough" Said a fourth voice and all the others fell silent.  
  
Cat listened, hard. Something clicked....a key in a lock....and then the door opened spilling light into the room. She saw it was about the size of a walk in closet. She caught a glimpse of two green blurs outside, as her eyes tried to adjust to the light. The gray shape to her left revealed itself to be a small low table with several candles on it.  
  
The shape in the door was nothing but a black silhouette. She saw a long thin naked tail, and then the door closed again.  
  
She heard the sound of soft gentle breathing.  
  
"Who are you." Cat said. Her voice was sweet and low, but she winced at the fear in it. She had wanted to sound calm "Where am I?"  
  
"You are safe." Said the voice. It was a wonderful voice, almost whispering. Calm and kind and even. "You may call me Splinter."  
  
She heard him move forward toward the table. She heard several soft thuds and clicks, and then a scratching popping sound. A match jumped to life in the dark, and began to touch candles. Flames sprung to life, and she counted...five candles.  
  
His profile was gentled by the soft light, but she still took in a breath. Not human at all, but not reptile like the others. A long muzzle, whiskers, bright gray eyes, fur that was a brown-gray. She would have thought dog, but the tail was rodent. Mouse or rat then. He was dressed in threadbare robes, that had obviously been repaired many times.  
  
She saw he had put several bowls, a small steaming teapot, and a small bundle on the table.  
  
He opened the bundle as she watched and began to put crumbled leaves and herbs in one of the bowls.  
  
"What is your name, child?" he asked gently, still looking at his work.  
  
"C...." She paused. Not just because he was a rodent, and she imagined must not like cats, but because...well....there was something about him. Something that made her feel that using her street name was an insult to him.  
  
And oddly enough, she wanted him to know her real name. Because she was sure Splinter was his, it just......fit so well.  
  
"Jessie" The girl said "I'm Jessie Walker."  
  
He nodded slowly "Jessica" he said, and she started. No one called her Jessica, not even the few who knew her real name. Only her mother had called her that, and in such a gentle tone as this. His voice was male, it was how she knew he was a he, but the quality in it..The care...was the same as how her mother had spoken.  
  
For a moment, her ghost was in this room, and Jessie missed her all over again with a fierceness that brought tears to her eyes. If only....If only....  
  
He turned and came to the pallet she lay on. Kneeling beside her, he looked down, one of the small wooden bowls in his left hand "Do not be afraid, child. I will not harm you." He said gently.  
  
She nodded only the smallest bit.  
  
He put an arm under her head that felt both as thin as sticks and as strong as iron, and gently lifted her head. She whimpered with pain, but she made no other protest.  
  
"Drink" He said "it will dull the pain."  
  
She drank, finding it was very warm but not hot, The herbs had a green, almost bitter taste to them. When she had swallowed all of it, he lay her head back with great care. "You are wounded badly." He said "Your healing will take time, but you will heal." he said. He went back to the table, and began to prepare another mix in a separate bowl. She saw him take clean cloth from the bundle and he returned to her side. She only realized her head was wrapped in cloth when he began to unwrap it.  
  
"Why are you helping me?" Jessie said softly.  
  
"Because you need our help." He said and began to wash her wounds. She was very still as he did this, and still when he rebound them with clean cloth. She saw the old bindings and the amount of blood staining them frightened her. There was much more blood from her arm, but the head injury made her more nervous.  
  
She looked up at him, her eyes confused. He simply met her gaze mildly.  
  
"What are you? What are they? How can you be real?"  
  
He smiled. Just a tiny bit, but to her surprise she found herself returning the smile.  
  
"How is it that you are real, Jessica? We are simply what we are. I will tell you the story soon. But not today. Today you must rest. I will have food brought for you. You have been unconscious for a full day."  
  
She was surprised at that. She watched him bundle up his things.  
  
"Splinter"  
  
He looked over at her.  
  
"I'm your prisoner, aren't I?"  
  
HE looked a little uncomfortable at this "You are our guest."  
  
"Do you always lock up your guests?" She asked.  
  
"Only the ones who come to spy first." He said, but the statement held no anger.  
  
"What are you going to do with me?"  
  
"Feed you. Tend your wounds. When you are well...we..." He paused "We will get you well first, and then decide."  
  
"Tend me and then kill me. Odd choice."  
  
He looked at her "We are not savage beasts, Jessica. Will have no intention of killing you."  
  
"If I were you." She said softly "I would." He studied her a long moment, and then she realized he looked sad. She was taken off guard by this, and swallowed.  
  
"We are not you, then." He said, and turned to the door, leaving her candles for light.  
  
"Splinter."  
  
He paused.  
  
"I....um. Thank you." She said softly.  
  
He turned and looked at her. He gave her a small bow of the head, and then turned and opened the door.  
  
She stared at it a long time after he was gone. 


	9. Splinter

There was such pain in her eyes even when she smiled.  
  
I have seen few humans since we have come here and none so young as she. But there was the knowledge of a life far too hard for a girl barely more than a child. I could see the map of her hardship there. And I had no doubt someone had hurt this child terribly.  
  
Yet there was strength there as well I could not help but admire. She was afraid, but she faced me with that fear, helpless as she was. I saw a warrior in her .  
  
So many things in that face. A child. A warrior. A caretaker. A clown. A thief.  
  
I spoke to her as one speaks to a wounded animal. For she was, and she needed to be soothed in that way. This wild creature lying before me, watching me with those bright eyes.  
  
She trusted me. I saw her face when she saw what I was. And yet, that I was not human did not frighten her so much as simply surprise. And her thanks was genuine. I knew, because it came from her lips in such a clumsy manner. It made me smile.  
  
Perhaps it was that she had no real choice. But she trusted me all the same. She told me the truth of everything. With her eyes and her carefully guarded words, she told me that she was our enemy.  
  
Even that, she would not hide from me. She trusted me so. When I left her, I hoped that would not be true for long.  
  
To make a foe a friend is often impossible.  
  
As ninja, we never fear to do the impossible. 


	10. walking on the moon

Mike grinned.  
  
The pickpocket was singing. He could hear here in the small room, even through the door. He had been reading an X-men comic book, and the sound didn't even register right away. But then her voice came to him, and he lowered the comic and sat up on the sofa.  
  
"Giant steps are what you take  
  
Walking on the moon  
  
I hope my legs don't break  
  
Walking on the moon  
  
We could walk forever  
  
Walking on the moon  
  
We could live together  
  
Walking on,  
  
walking on the moon."  
  
He grinned a little bit. He had always had weird musical tastes and he knew this one. And old Police song "Walking on the Moon." Honestly he hadn't heard it in so long he almost didn't know what it was right away, he had to really listen.  
  
"Walking back from your house  
  
Walking on the moon  
  
Walking back from your house  
  
Walking on the moon."  
  
Mike got up, put the comic book down, and walked to the door. He stood listening for a long moment and then began to sing himself, in a surprisingly good tenor.  
  
"Feet they hardly touch the ground  
  
Walking on the moon  
  
My feet don't hardly make no sound  
  
Walking on, walking on the moon"  
  
There was a moment of silence and then the girl's voice sang again, and he could hear the smile in it. She was almost laughing as she sang.  
  
"Some may say  
  
I'm wishing my days away  
  
No way And if it's the price I pay."  
  
And then they were both singing, their voices mixing through the wood of the door. Mike was grinning and her voice still held that laughing quality to it. They sang, soft but full of warmth he had not been expecting when he started. It had been mostly a joke at first.  
  
"Giant steps are what you take  
  
Walking on the moon  
  
I hope my legs don't break  
  
Walking on the moon  
  
We could walk forever  
  
Walking on the moon  
  
We could be together  
  
Walking on, walking on the moon  
  
Some may say  
  
I'm wishing my days away  
  
No way  
  
And if it's the price I pay  
  
Some say  
  
Tomorrow's another day  
  
You stay  
  
I may as well play."  
  
Their voices faded and there was silence again for a long moment. Then the girl spoke in a low pleasant voice "Well? Are you going to come in? I don't like singing with someone I can't see."  
  
He put his hand on the door and she said "Hey, bring food with ya. I'm starving man!"  
  
"Ok." Mike returned "Hold on a second; I'll get some soup."  
  
"Soups good. Bread too if ya have it." She called back.  
  
Mike made it into the kitchen before Raph spoke from the table "What the hell are ya doin' ?"  
  
Mike began to rummage for a can of cambells. "Getting her food."  
  
"That's not what I mean. What's with the singing?"  
  
"It was a joke Raph. A little bit of fun."  
  
Raph frowned hard "She aint your friend Mikey. Don't go forgettin;' that. She's our enemy. Just because we treat her good don't make that different. She aint your friend."  
  
"I know" Mike said, dumping a can of chicken and stars into the bowl and setting the microwave.  
  
"Do ya?"  
  
"Yes"  
  
"Cuz she'll hurt ya. She's got sneak thief written all over her. Don't let her get to ya." He touched his brother's arm "I don't wanna see you hurt."  
  
"I'm ok" Mike said looking at him "Thanks." 


	11. Leonardo

I didn't say anything. I just sat cleaning my blades and let Raph do the talking.  
  
Raph said what I had been thinking...at least..part of what I'd been thinking. It made me nervous that Mike seemed to be bonding with her so quickly. As if she was nothing more than a little stray kitten we could just feed and keep.  
  
I wondered how much of it on her end was real.  
  
We didn't know at the time, of course hat she was in fact a thief. A pickpocket. She had muttered a few things in her unconscious state that made me think she was. But I had no proof.  
  
Still, we couldn't afford to trust her. And Mike was starting to already.  
  
I still felt pity for her. I understood what Mike wanted, why he reacted to her like that. He always was the kindest of us. He would bring home hurt animals he found in the sewers to make well. HE found a bag of newborn kittens once and nursed all but one to maturity so April could find them good homes.  
  
One died, and he cried over it as if he was still a child that believed everything had to be fair.  
  
It was one of the reasons I love him so much. My brother is the kindest person I know. If he could run the world, it would be a much happier place.  
  
I didn't want her to hurt him. I felt furry at the idea, and I'm not used to that. Raph is the time bomb, not me.  
  
And yet, I wondered if it was real from her end too. Splinter had said little about what he had spoken to her about, but there was something in the way he looked when he left her that first night. A thoughtful, and sort of sad look, that made me think maybe she was more than just a sneak thief.  
  
Maybe Raph was wrong. 


	12. Enemy Mine

The smell of the soup almost drove her mad when he opened the door and came in. She wanted to sit up and reach for it, and knew her body was still too hurt.  
  
Mikey put the tray down on the table and turned to look at her. Mild green eyes from the turtle's face looked back at calm hazel ones from the girls.  
  
"Soup, bread, or tea first." Mike said.  
  
The girl smiled slightly "All of the above. Soup first I guess."  
  
He nodded, and took the bowl and the spoon. Sitting Indian style beside her he began to feed her the soup slowly. Her belly roared at the taste demanding more, but she knew she had to go slow. Hunger could easily turn to sickness when head trauma was involved.  
  
Mike hummed a little as he fed her, hummed several police songs. and she smiled a little more. "You like those guys hum?"  
  
"Great band." Mike said "Really tight and unusual."  
  
"You're Mike right? The Angel."  
  
"I'm no angel." Mike grinned "Just Mikey the dude."  
  
Jessie grinned and sang a few bars, tapping one hand against the blanket as if to keep time. Her voice was soft and sweet, and her eyes glittered with mischief.  
  
"So I might steal your diamonds  
  
I'll bring you back some gold  
  
I'm no angel."[1]  
  
Mike grinned back "Well I guess. I dunno, I'm not much of a thief."  
  
"I could teach you." Said Jessie and now her smile was a little sad "Oh I could teach you all about that, Mikey the Dude, if you wanted me to. I'm Jessie the cat, and that's what I do. You should know that up front. I've got sneak thief written all over me."  
  
Mike grimaced a little "Oh, you heard that hum?"  
  
Jessie's smile never faded "He's right. You shouldn't trust me. And you shouldn't think of me as your friend. But....I don't mind if you pretend. I mean, forget what I am, and pretend that we're really friends."  
  
"Ok" Mike said "Lets start with that."  
  
"ok" Jessie said and continued to eat the soup as he fed it to her. "So, are you going to explain to me what you guys all are? How are you real? Splinter told me he'd tell me, but I haven't seen him since yesterday. So will you?"  
  
Mike grinned "He tells the story a lot better than I do."  
  
Jessie settled back. She found she could sip the tea herself, holding the small cup in her hand "Tell me the best you can. I bet you tell it fine."  
  
"We were once just Animals. All of us. Even Master Splinter. Just like pets. It's hard to think of. I remember it, but sort of like trying to remember things from when you were a little kid, you know?"  
  
Jessie nodded "I understand."  
  
Mike leaned back a little and began to tell their story, starting with Yoshie and his pet rat and moving on from there. When he told about Saki killing Yoshie and Shin her brow wrinkled a little and her face darkened. But she found herself caught in the tale, and despite his protests he was an excellent storyteller.  
  
When he had finished, she looked at him "I know the foot. We run on some of their turf. Well.....I run on it. Good hits there, I don't have to steal much to eat really well for a long time. They don't like me much."  
  
"They're dangerous." Said Mike  
  
"I'm fast" Said Jessie. and when she smiled it was her old "Go to hell" grin. A Cat grin.  
  
He put the soup bowl aside "So now you know. Where do you come from Jessie?"  
  
"Back ally's and Star filled nights" Jessie laughed "My favorite spot is the statue of Alice in Central Park. I sleep there sometimes."  
  
Mike looked a little sad "But you had to have lived somewhere before that. Your family, where are they?"  
  
Jessie's eyes narrowed a little "I dropped out of school at 10 because I w as a punk. I fought everyone, and I never learned anything. My parents are a Red Cross nurse and an environmental activist. I blew off those wussies about the same time. I'm much too tough and mean to live with them. So I took to the streets and I leered to survive and rule with an iron hand. My gang fears me, and we aint afraid of no one."  
  
Mike looked at her mildly "Didn't sound like they feared you. Sounded like you guys were a family."  
  
Jessie shrugged "Doesn't matter who I am Mikey. Its probably better if you think of me as some punk-ass bad guy. Seriously. My story means nothing. Only now is important."  
  
"I wanna hear it anyway, Jess."  
  
Jessie smiled, and he was surprised at how sweet it was. For a second, she just looked like anyone's sister there. Her eyes were both lightened and saddened by that smile.  
  
"Just think of me as a lost girl." She said gently "But your really sweet for wanting to know, Mike. Really."  
  
Mike smiled a little and then it faded "Why were you spying on us?"  
  
"I saw you when you left stuff last winter. And I thought...." She paused "You know how much money you guys would be worth to a zoo? Or to scientists......I could get myself emancipated, get a house, start a studio. I could give Rabbit a place to grow up...I....." She suddenly realized what she was saying and then her words grew gruff "I could be rich, ride around in cars, make all the boys want me. I could have everything, and all I have to do is sell you out...."  
  
Mike wasn't fooled. "You really want to take care of that little girl." He said,  
  
Jessie sighed "I don't want her to be like me." She dropped the act. "You'd like her Mike. I think you're the kinda person who would love kids, and she's the best. Little Rabbit. Her names Lee. we call her rabbit cause she was born in the year of the rabbit."  
  
He smiled a little "And why are you cat?"  
  
"Cuz Steve says I have nine lives. And Cats the animal that got left out of the zodiac, she got left out of heaven."  
  
"Maybe you don't have to be left out."  
  
"I already am. If I wasn't I'd be thinking 'Hey these guys aren't animals, they're people. Like me. I can't sell them. That's wrong. And Mikes my friend.' Then I'd be worthy of heaven."  
  
"What are you thinking then?"  
  
" This is so wrong, and I still want the money. I want to give Rabbit what I don't have. I want to give shadow what we don't have. And I know its wrong,. because........" She stopped and closed her eyes.  
  
"Because what, Jess?"  
  
She didn't say anything and then she said "Go away Mikey. I'm your enemy. Tell them. Tell them they better kill me or you'll all end up in a lab." Her eyes still closed.  
  
He was still a long moment, and then he rose and took the bowl and the mug. He paused at the door, and looked back. She watched him, cracking her eyes open, and so no anger or hate on his face. No fear. Only sadness and a terrible deep pity.  
  
"Your not my enemy Jess. No matter what you choose." he said and then he was gone.  
  
He didn't see the glittering on her cheeks in the candlelight, or hear the soft long breath she took like a sigh.  
  
"Momma...." She whispered "Momma.....what am I supposed to do? Help me."  
  
There was only silence and candlelight.  
  
----------------------- [1] I'M NO ANGEL The Allman Brothers Band 


	13. Jessie

I know what you're thinking.  
  
I mean, I would be thinking it too if I was you.  
  
Your thinking what a bitch I am. After everything they did for me, After all the kind words, I was still talking about putting them in a lab somewhere. Selling them to the highest bidder.  
  
And selling my soul in the barging.  
  
You're probably right in thinking that. I guess I am one. After a lifetime of trying to stay human, I find myself more and more called on to have make choices that mean I'm less than I want to be. Don't get me wrong. I'm not complainin'. That happens, and you live with it. It's just a fact.  
  
If you are thinking that, I can't blame you.  
  
Some of you might be thinking of me with pity. Please don't. I don't deserve it. Splinter and his boys, they deserve kind thoughts. Pity. Not me. I had hard choices to make, but they were choices I earned. I mean, I went looking for them. I decided to go after the "prize". I don't know if I'm a bitch or not, but...I don't deserve pity. I know that.  
  
All I can give you is one image. That's all. One thing that I hope makes my heart a little more clear. A little more real, and a little less dark.  
  
Look here for a moment in my memory. See this? One picture of me, laying in that warm little sewer room with Rabbit in my arms. She's laying wrapped up, but not able to sleep. And so she asks me the same thing she always asks me when she can't sleep.  
  
"Tell me 'bout the house Cat."  
  
So I talk, and I tell her about the big white house I saw once, a thousand years ago before I knew what hell was. When I was a child like her. When I could truly say I was innocent. That one weekend in Massachusetts, in the back of the car that belonged to my mother's best friend, Jeanine .  
  
"There's this little town called Northampton" I tell her "And the streets are full of shops with everything you could ever want in them. There's a candy shop, Rabbit, called Sweeties and they have containers full of gumdrops, and licorice, and chocolate coins. We'll go there someday, and you can pick out all the candies you like best. And there's flowers everywhere, and people on the street who play guitars and sing. And a store that sells nothing but popcorn in every flavor you like, and lemonade in the summer when its hot."  
  
Rabbit giggles "The house, Cat...."  
  
"There's a big white house with tall green trees and a yard big enough for a pony. And a long back porch with a swing. And inside there's an old bathtub with claw feet, and it fills with hot water on cold winter nights and bubbles...."  
  
"And a fire" Says Rabbit "We can have a fireplace right?"  
  
"A fireplace" I agree "And we'll read the secret garden there when the fire burns. And upstairs is a little room just right for a Rabbit. Inside is......"  
  
That's the picture. Two dirty, hungry girls seeing this dream. Its the same story I tell her every time. The same "Someday" house, the same escape to the small town full of color and people. A place where I would never have to steel again, and Rabbit would never have to hide in an ally wondering if this time she was going to get away.  
  
Its not an excuse. Its not. I know it sounds like it is.  
  
I know it sounds like it.  
  
" This is so wrong, and I still want the money. I want to give Rabbit what I don't have. I want to give shadow what we don't have. And I know its wrong, because........"  
  
That's what I said to him, but I couldn't finish. I had to send him away making myself a villain.  
  
"Because I like you." I would have said if I could "Because He loves you, and you all love him...just like fathers and children are supposed to be. I can tell. Because you're kind to me, and I....Like you."  
  
Its true. And I'm a little jealous too.  
  
......like fathers and children are supposed to be.....  
  
Oh Mikey. I'm so glad you don't know that not all fathers love their children. No. Not at all. 


	14. Dreaming of Clocks

It wasn't more than ten minutes later that she heard the voice through the door. She never even heard him approach, just his voice low through the wood. He didn't yell. Or whisper. He growled like a dog at the end of its chain.  
  
"Hey. Girl. I wanna make somethin' very clear. Ya hurt my family....you hurt mikey..and I'll make you real sorry. No one messes with my family. No one. Ya got that, you little punk?'  
  
Jessie didn't answer just closed her eyes.  
  
"I know ya can hear me....I know."  
  
Nothing.  
  
One thud like a fist against a door, and then silence.  
  
Jessie kept her eyes closed.  
  
*****  
  
She knew she was dreaming. She was walking down her street, and of course she was dreaming because she never did that anymore. It was the one place she never went. He may be gone, but then again maybe the monster was never really gone.  
  
/Lights go out and I can't be saved Tides that I tried to swim against Put me down upon my knees Oh I beg, I beg and plead singin'/  
  
Up ahead of her, a woman with the same long dark hair as herself. Older, but lovely and laughing. She was walking with a bag over one arm, her sundress bright in the morning air, and her head held high . She was watching the birds.  
  
"MOM!" Jessie yelled and began to run. She found herself having a hard time catching up, why was she go damned slow?  
  
/Come out of things unsaid Shoot, an apple off my head. And the Trouble that cant be named The tiger's waiting to be tamed singin'/  
  
The woman never turned, simply started up the stairs of the old apartment building and Jesise thought *Don't mom. He's in there, and if you go in you'll get sick. You'll get the cancer and then you'll die and leave me alone with him. Don't, please mom....*  
  
/You are You are/  
  
The woman vanished inside, and Jessie began up the stairs. It wasn't until she started to climb them that she realized why she was so slow, what the problem was.  
  
She was a child again. No more than six. Little short skinny legs, and jeans too big for her almost ill-looking frame. She never got enough to eat, even here in her home. No, he got it all. It went right in his pocket.  
  
/Confusion never stops Closing walls and ticking clocks Gonna come back and take you home I could not stop but you now know, singin'/  
  
If she could catch her, she could change this. She could make it all not happen, and they could get away. Call Jeanine before Kevin Walker made his wife stop their friendship, Before Jessie could lean how all fathers did not love their children,. Before the streets, before being a thief, before shadow and rabbit...yes she'd even give them up right now.....before all of it could happen. Call her and get in her car and go to Northampton and be safe. be home.  
  
/Come out upon my seas, Curse missed opportunities Am I a part of the cure Or am I part of the disease, singin'/  
  
*I don't wanna survive. I don't wanna get by. I wanna live, momma. I want to really really live.*  
  
/You are, you are, you are You are  
  
Nothing else compares. Oh, no nothing else compares Oh, no nothing else compares  
  
You are You are/  
  
She came into the hall, running as fast as she legs could go, and she couldn't see her momma anywhere. She couldn't see anything at all, and then she ran smack into a pair of legs and felt something wet her hair. The sickening smell of old cheep beer and sweat came to her, and her body reacted both in fear and with a horrible deep sadness like a sickness. It made her feel old and weak. *Here it comes. Here it comes, be ready.* And then *At least she died early. At least she went to heaven and never saw most of this. At least she got to go home.*  
  
/Home, home where I wanted to go Home, home where I wanted to go/  
  
Kevin's cold voice above her "You made me spill my beer Jessie! You can't watch where your goin'?" The blow came so fast she never saw it "You're so damned stupid girl. Why the hell couldn't I have a son? " Again, over the left side of her head throwing her back . She tried to curl up, and he punched her in the stomach "Gotta talk to you up close Jessie. Gotta correct you right. Get over here."  
  
/Home, home where I wanted to go Home, home where I wanted to go/[1]  
  
*He'll kill me* he picked up her too small frame and threw her against the wall where she slid down, tasting blood and hardly feeling the pain. And then a cold voice in her mind as cold as her fathers *No...No Jess. Don't let him. He wants too. Piss him off. Live.*  
  
****  
  
She sat up in the dark, and her head screamed in pain. He must have hit her up against the wall harder than she had known. She wanted to scream, but what came out was a low growl like an animal making a challenge "I won't die you son of a bitch!"  
  
But she was laying on something soft, even as she felt tears on her face. She looked around in the dark, lowering herself gently back to try and ease her moaning head. She could see the little low table as her eyes adjusted.  
  
"He's dead" She whispered. "He's dead, and I'm with the mutants. I'm okay. I'm ok."  
  
She was far from ok, though. Her heart pounded as her head did, and she gave in, allowing herself to cry softly in the dark. Everything....the events of the last few days, the physical pain, and the memories all crashed against her. She needed an out.  
  
She didn't hear the door click open.  
  
******  
  
AN I am thinking of starting a turtles online rpg. Story format style, each person writes for a character. I'm curious to know who would be interested in playing. Any takers? E-mail me at Raven_Summersong@Yahoo.com  
  
----------------------- [1] "Clocks", by Coldplay 


	15. Splinter2

She was almost silent. A human would not have heard her cry, her whispers, or her quiet tears. But of course I am not human. Rats have only average eyesight, and as I grow older mine is fading. But our hearing and our sense of smell is far beyond what human beings can experience.  
  
Or so I have read in one of Donatello's books. Having never been human I can only assume the book is correct.  
  
I knew well what that sort of weeping is caused by. Not simply nightmares but nightmares born of true memory. Harsh Memory. I have dreamt such dreams myself, and I know well the smell of them in the darkest point of the night.  
  
Memory is both a gift and a curse. It is the thing that keeps us warm in the coldest part of the winter, and brings joy to us even at the very heart of the night, when no hope seems to be able to shine. And yet, it turns traitor so easily. Memory can easily twist and bite with teeth sharper than any beast on this world. Even sharper than the teeth of mankind.  
  
I paused only long enough to pour a cup of herbal tea.  
  
Her dream still had her in its grasp, and so she did not look up when I opened the door and stepped in.  
  
I watched her for a moment, thinking it would be better to let her see me first. She was utterly exposed in that moment, all of her armor gone. All of her masks set aside. This was Jessica Walker...and she was a frightened and hurt girl. Her wounds, the wounds on her soul, only hinted at in her eyes before, were now lain before me.  
  
After a long moment, she did look up at me, her face streaked with tears. She didn't look alarmed, or ashamed, but simply gazed back at me as if to say *Yes old one. Now you see. You don't know the details, but those don't matter. Now you know.*  
  
I moved to the table and lit the candles there and set the cup down. Then I turned back, and we studied each other for a long moment.  
  
I was the first to speak. 


	16. Daughter and Sons

"I have brought you tea" The old rat said gently.  
  
Jessie blinked at him, sure she had heard wrong. When he said nothing else, she surprised herself by smiling a little bit, almost amused. She reached up with one hand and rubbed tears from her cheeks like a child. "Hum....tea......tea sounds pretty good."  
  
Splinter nodded, and took the cup. He came to sit beside the mat and handed her the tea. She nodded "Thank you." She said and sipped it. It was some herb...sweet and green and lovely.  
  
He watched her for a long moment. "You spoke" He said again. "I heard you cry out..."  
  
"I know." She said and it was a small sigh like the wind.  
  
"Someone wishes you dead?"  
  
"Someone did. A long time ago, It doesn't matter."  
  
Splinter studied her "It seems it does matter." He said. He didn't ask whom, but she saw it in his eyes and suddenly she was shocked to hear words from her own lips she thought would go with her to the grave.  
  
"My father." Jessie said softly "My father. But I didn't die. He did. I got away." There was a sort of bright hard pride to that statement. "I lived."  
  
"Have you any family? Your mother? Any place to go?" The questions were gently spoken, and she mused how funny it was that she didn't mind him asking. Normally she would have given a scowl and told anyone who dared pry to go to hell.  
  
"MY mother was dead long before my father died. Cancer. And yeah I have a family.....shadow. They're my family." She said, in a neutral tone.  
  
He nodded "I see."  
  
She looked away suddenly uncomfortable "That's why I......I mean. I gotta take care of them, Sir. I......I have to take care of them 'cause they take care of me." She frowned "That's why I came looking for you.... So I can take care of them."  
  
He nodded "I understand. I too have taken care of my family no matter what."  
  
She nodded "Your boys they're.......Mike." She smiled thinly but with a real affection that surprised him "Mike's great. You must be a hell of a dad."  
  
He smiled a little "I try, child. They are all I have in the world."  
  
She looked back at him for a long moment "Do you....." She paused and then "Do you hate me?" She said. She sounded so young when she said it, not a teenager at all but a little girl lost.  
  
"No child." He said softly "We do not hate you. Raphael is angry with you, but even he does not hate you."  
  
"But I'm...I'm bad! I'm your enemy! I'm willing to sell all of you like...like.....animals." she said  
  
"You are a Lost Girl who is making the best choices she can. As we have. I think you are making the wrong ones, but......" He paused "I cannot tell you have to live Jessica. I can only tell you that your Shadow may be your family, but I know Michelangelo has come to think of you as a friend. Despite all of this. You may have more family than you realize."  
  
Jessie looked at him "I'm sorry" She whispered. Her hands shook "I'm so sorry, sir. I wish I was someone.... that Mike should have as a friend. I wish I was......I wish I was someone my mother would still know. I used to be a good person. A long time ago......."  
  
He regarded her with an even gaze "You can be whatever you wish Jessica. If you wish to be that person again, than be it."  
  
"I can't up there......" she blurted miserably  
  
"You can. You are, at least in part. I see that in you, and so does Michelangelo. That's why he helped you. That's why I am helping you."  
  
Jessie said nothing again, and looked into her cup of tea as if scrying for an answer. "They're lucky. They're very lucky, to have a father like you. I.....I'm glad for them. And I'm a little jealous, I guess."  
  
"I am lucky to have them."  
  
"I don't know what to do, sir. I really don't."  
  
He paused "I think you do, child. Otherwise, you would not be so distraught over what is happening." he paused "You said your father wished you dead?"  
  
"He...wanted a son. He....beat me, he....." She said softly.  
  
"But you did not die." he said "You lived, and you became strong. We see that in you too. But tell me this Jessica. If you allow yourself to become cold, to loose sight of what you believe is right and wrong, then does not your spirit die? That thing that makes you Jessica? And then, your father will have killed you after all....."  
  
She looked startled. She had thought something almost word for word that very statement just today.  
  
"I....Think so. I think that's exactly true." she admitted.  
  
They were quiet for a long time and then he said "Your mother was a good person." It was not a question.  
  
Jessie nodded "The best. She just...made mistakes. And then she got sick."  
  
"She is in you." He said "Her spirit is in you."  
  
Jessie sipped the tea, and then stared at it when a single tear dropped into the cup.  
  
He put a hand on her shoulder, and she jumped a little, but didn't shake it off. No one had touched her with such gentleness...such.....care...since her mother had died.  
  
"I do not hate you." He said again "I pity you a little. And I admire you."  
  
"Admire?" She looked shocked "Why would you do that?"  
  
"Because after all that has happened to you, you still are human enough to care." He said "You hide well, but you do not hide that well. That is clear."  
  
Jessie looked into his eyes with her own wide and slightly moist. She licked her lips as if to speak and then found she could say nothing.  
  
He rose, taking his hand from her shoulder, and taking the empty cup from her hand "Sleep child. And if you dream, dream of your mother with great joy."  
  
He blew out the candles and walked to the door. Her voice made him pause.  
  
"They're so lucky to have you." She said in a whisper "I.....I wish you were my dad too."  
  
He turned back to study her for a long moment and almost seemed to want to say something. She looked back with a calm face, but eyes that seemed lost in the darkness.  
  
"Goodnight, Jessica" He said softly, and was gone. 


	17. Donatello2

None of us knew what Raph did until after it was over.  
  
I mean, if we had known we would have understood why she finally made a break.  
  
She had been with us for almost two weeks, and her strength had returned. And her friendship with Mike bloomed. Even when she tried to be cold to him and make him leave her alone, he kept going back. I think despite herself she couldn't help but like him.  
  
Leo had no part in any of it. He stayed away. I think he knew he might end up liking her, and he wanted to stay as neutral as he could about it all. For when we had to make our choice.  
  
I should have. But I knew already that mike wasn't the only one taken with her. Master Splinter stayed and spoke with her on many a day, although they spoke in low tones and I never heard anything of what they talked over.  
  
I tried to be like Leo. I did. But it was hard not to smile when I heard mike laughing at some things she said. Or when they would sing together, trading lines of song.  
  
Still I didn't go and talk to her. I mostly listened. Mike and Master Splinter were the only ones who really spoke with her.  
  
Until that day. Raph had made up his mind it seemed, and none of us knew. He'd dropped even complaining about her and mostly just ignored everything like Leo.  
  
I figured he'd washed his hands of everything. He still glared at me when he saw me smirking over an overheard comment...or a laugh, but that was it.  
  
If we had known, maybe....well.......who knows what might have been. 


	18. The Escape

"Are you joking.....Wolverine would kick his ass" Jessie said sipping her tea "No offense, I bet your all great ninjas, but come on! Between the claws, the animal senses, and the healing factor, Raphael would be toast."  
  
Mike grinned "I dunno....you've never seen Raph when he really gets going. He's nuts...like a whirlwind. Like Casey."  
  
"Like who?"  
  
"A friend. maybe you'll meet him sometime, Jess. He's weird, but really alright when you get down to it." Mike said. Jessie laughed a little.  
  
"I still think in a fight, wolverine would mop the floor with your brother. Sorry."  
  
Mike grinned "Maybe its true, maybe its true." He stood and stretched "Well, past time for me to be in bed. Night, Jess."  
  
"Night Mike." Jessie said  
  
"Your head doing okay?" He thought to ask.  
  
"Yeah. Nice to have the bandages off. Now I just wait for my arm to heal and I'm ready to...to" She paused "Well, whatever. You know. Night dude."  
  
He looked a little uncomfortable but smiled "Night"  
  
She'd settled back against her bedding, when the door clicked open, and she opened her eyes "Forget your night light mike?"  
  
But the door clicked shut "Aint mike" A cold voice said.  
  
The smile faded "Ah. Raphael. Good evening, what do I owe the pleasure."  
  
"Save the niceness." He snapped.  
  
"So what's up." She said coolly.  
  
"You're almost healed." He said. It wasn't a question.  
  
"I am. Splinter is an excellent doctor."  
  
"We have to figure out what to do with you."  
  
She said nothing, just watched him.  
  
"You have no idea who I am, punk. I swear to god, if I have to, I'll kill ya. And I won't regret one minute of it. Who cares about street trash like you? No body. And no body messes with my family."  
  
Jessie met his eyes calmly "I see."  
  
He scowled "I'll make it look like you were tryin' to escape. They won't even know. So you better behave, Punk. You better decide not to tell about us and mean it. You don't even wanna start with me."  
  
"Shadow..."  
  
"Screw shadow. Bunch of trash like you. You wanna pretend to be this big martyr with mikey, fool 'im. Fine, but you don't fool me. You don't take care of no one but yourself, I know how you work. You play this big tragic past game, but you're in it for you. That's all. I know, see. I can see right through you. You dunno what it is to have a real family. But I do, Punk. So you better watch yourself, cuz I see everything. You've never messed with no one like me before. Never." He spoke in a low growling murmur.  
  
Jessie smiled a little "Really, I'd think...."  
  
He was beside her in to steps, and he had the blade of his sai against her neck, just tickling the skin "Try me, you bitch" He hissed.  
  
Her eyes widened and then narrowed and she was still.  
  
After a long moment, he withdrew. "Sweet dreams" he smiled bitterly, and stepped back and out.  
  
Jessie lay quiet for a long time.  
  
She waited, listening. It was more of a sense of time than a real counting, but she was pretty good at estimating time. Long past midnight. Then she slid out of bed and stood on her own two feet. She had done this only twice before and both times she had only done it for a few minutes before she had to lay back down. Now it wasn't an option anymore.  
  
She reached under the waistband of her jeans, and felt for the little slit she had cut there in the cloth, making a tiny little pouch. She found it and slipped a finger inside and drew out a small hairpin.  
  
Quietly, she pulled her boots over and put them on. Then she moved toward the door. She had a headache, but at least the dizziness had not come back at all.  
  
Carefully, quietly. She inserted the hairpin in the lock, and began to fiddle. It only just made a tiny clicking noise, and she listened hard for footsteps or anything that might say someone was coming. Nothing but silence.  
  
She tried to control her breathing. If she didn't get out he would kill her. She had thought he was mad, but now she knew he was crazy.  
  
"Come on...come on" She whispered.  
  
Another click and then the hairpin snapped. Her heart stopped, and then she reached for the latch.  
  
It wouldn't open.  
  
"Oh shit...oh no, come on...."  
  
Then she heard a tiny chink as the piece of the hairpin still inside the lock dropped, and the door clicked open.  
  
She smiled *Thank you thank you thank you.*  
  
She crept into the living room and found her jacket thrown over a chair. Still had everything in it. That was good. She quietly crept through what looked to be the main door of the Lair.  
  
Mike had just wanted one more slice of that pizza, a midnight snack. When he stepped into the living room, he almost didn't see her...a shadow amongst shadows.... But a glitter of light across her eyes betrayed her.  
  
"Jessie?"  
  
She was through the door and bolting up the sewer corridor. 


	19. Raph2

I admit it, It was a bluff  
  
I thought maybe if I scared her she wouldn't hurt them. Wouldn't hurt him. I didn't wanna even think of mikey as hurt like that. He liked her so much, and I...  
  
I guess I wanted to hurt her a little too. I felt satisfaction when she looked so scared for that moment. It was like...good great, cuz I've been feeling that scared cuz 'a you! So you get scared for your life a little and see how it feels. See whatcha doin' to us.  
  
I should have known she would run. I mean, I saw what kind of fighter she was in her eyes. She was bigger than her own fear, and she never would've just lay around waiting for us to decide. I guess I was too angry to know.  
  
But it felt good, you understand? It felt really really good to see her like that.  
  
It felt rotten too. Like I was no better than she was. Or I was worse, cuz..I did believe her about her family. I said I didn't, but that was a bluff too.  
  
It was all a god damned bluff. 


	20. Cat or Jessica?

There was deep shadow everywhere and for a moment, Jessie considered hiding. She rejected that almost right away...they were ninja, they would see. Her only hope was to outrun and out think them. They knew the sewers better than she, but they also didn't know how fast or how quiet she could be.  
  
She came around a corner and found the tunnel branched off in two directions. She chose the left passage and flew down it.  
  
She didn't know how long she ran, and she couldn't hear anything behind her...but of course she wouldn't. Ninja didn't make noise when they pursued.  
  
Once she thought she caught a whispered swear echoing from behind, and she put on an extra burst of speed.  
  
She paused, looking around at another choice, and then a streak of movement up ahead of her made her duck around the other corner. From the shadows, two...three....four....eight figures came silently. Young men in dark clothes. They had weapons at their sides and strapped on their back.  
  
*Foot* she thought *Foot clan. Oh man, I must be under the west side.*  
  
From where she had just come, she saw the first flash of motion, and the foot all drew their weapons.  
  
*Oh Crap* Jessie thought. She turned and ran up the corridor.  
  
It only took a moment, and someone yelled in surprise behind her. She didn't know who. The sounds of the battle came to her, and she stopped.  
  
"Damnit. Just go, Walker, go." She whispered to herself. "They're Ninja, they'll kick the foots but and...you know...who cares if they don't."  
  
Right. She was home free; they would be too busy to follow.  
  
******  
  
Leo slammed one of his foes against the wall. His sword parried a sword strike by another one of the foot.  
  
"This is just great!" Raph growled. His first opponent dropped as he knocked him out.  
  
Mike struck another, and glanced over at them.  
  
Don brought two down, and then looked up "There are more coming." He said.  
  
Mike spun, kicked out, and dropped another "We could run" He said.  
  
"I aint runnin'." Said Raph "And I aint lettin' her go."  
  
"We can handle this." said Leo. "Steady."  
  
Several more foot appeared. They stepped forward, and then from the left corridor someone slammed into one of the foot, and knocked him into his fellow clan members.  
  
He threw the person off, and they rolled and came to their feet beside mike.  
  
Jessica Ann Walker got to her feet, her knife in her right hand. She crouched slightly, holding her knife out and she smiled at the Foot.  
  
"Hello boys" She said in a low tiger's voice "I think you've been looking for me for while, hum?"  
  
The foot glanced at each other and attacked.  
  
The battle went on for a long time. Jessie was not a ninja, but she fought like a storm. When the foot finally retreated , she slumped against the wall. She had a cut above her left eye, and was very battered and bruised. But she was smiling a little "Suckers" She laughed.  
  
Raph put his sais on his belt. In the next moment, he had Jessie against the wall. "Alright you punk....."  
  
Mike pulled at his shoulder "Raph......"  
  
Jessie looked at him. She had gone pale, but her gaze was steady. "Alright. Fine. You have me. You going to kill me now Raph?"  
  
Raph narrowed his eyes "No...but I might beat the shit out of you."  
  
"Raph" Leo pulled him back.  
  
The girl shook herself down. She looked at all of them, and stepped back.  
  
"She came back" Said Mike "She didn't have to."  
  
"We didn't need her. We would have won" said Raph  
  
"But she still came back to help us. She didn't have to..She could've gotten away and she still came back." said Mike.  
  
"He's right" Said Don "She did."  
  
Jessie looked uncomfortable "Hey hey...its not like...I mean....look......"  
  
Leo didn't look at her "Go."  
  
She looked at him, clearly startled by his words. Raph did too "Leo, whatta ya..?"  
  
"Go." Said Leo "We won't stop you. You do what you have to do. Its on you Jessie."  
  
Raph growled and glared at him. Leo looked back calmly. After a moment he stepped back.  
  
Jessie looked around at each of the brothers. Raph glared at her, Leo was looking at her with an even gaze. Don was looking at his feet. Mike smiled a little, softly, at her.  
  
She stepped back. Looking at each of them, she seemed to be thinking. Then she looked at all of them she said "I won't tell." She said "I promise by the honor of shadow, I will tell no one about you. I'll keep you safe."  
  
Mike's smile came a little easier, and Raph snorted "Yeah we'll see. What honor does a thief have?"  
  
Jessie gave a small sad smile and turned Vanishing into the dark.  
  
The four brothers turned and went home. 


	21. Mike2

I went in to clean the room we had kept her in. I didn't know how she got out, no one did, but I sorta felt like it was my fault. Even though Raph had threatened her, I felt like she was my responsibility.  
  
So I cleaned the room. Not that it needed a lot. A little buff was all. It was when I was taking the blanket off her bed to wash when the note fell out. I don't know where she got the paper...it was only a scarp...or the pen. But then, we don't know where she got the lock pick either.  
  
It was printed neatly "You might call me a Cheshire cat, Mike. If you want me, leave a sign. I think you'll know where. Name and time will do."  
  
She had dawn a sleeping cat beneath it. 


	22. The Honor of Thieves

HE leaned back against the statue of Alice in Wonderalnd on her Mushroom and watched the darkness of the park. Had it really been six months ago? It didn't seem it. Sometimes it was a lifetime ago. Sometimes it was yesterday.  
  
After the first few weeks of wondering if the sewers would suddenly be swarming with science teams....and debating amongst themselves on the subject (Raph said they should move, Leo said the scientific community would never believe a street kid, etc.) they had finally relaxed a little. Mike supposed she might tell someday, but as time went on it seemed less likely she would give their secret away. The honor of thieves it seemed, was a reality after all. At least, that thief.  
  
They others seemed to have forgotten her now. They never spoke about her at all. Only Splinter would sometimes make a comment that made mike think he might think of her from time to time. When they had returned and told him what had happened he had said only "Choice is a very powerful thing, my sons. Through mere choice, we might change ourselves completely. the choice is in her hands, and I think now we will see who she truly is." he had smiled a little "I think she will be Jessica"  
  
The others had no idea what he meant, but mike thought he did. Was she Cat or Jessica? He thought his master had been right.  
  
He found himself wandering by this statue sometimes in the dead of night. He had never yet left any sign of his passing for her or anyone else to find, and he had never seen her here, but sometimes he saw evidence that someone had slept here.  
  
And then, two days ago, he had found a note. It had been pinned to the ground with a stick, and looked like a piece of trash except for the rough drawing of a cat on it. He had taken it, and read.  
  
Someone wants to meet you. Someone I can trust to tell, and you too, If it's all right for me to let her in, meet me. Thursday. 1:30.  
  
Below was another picture of a cat, and beside it a rabbit.  
  
So here he sat in the wee hours of the morning. Waiting in the dark. Jessie had kept her promise, and was still keeping it. She asked for permission and he had an idea he knew why. You never knew what was going to happen on the streets. And if Jessie couldn't look out for her, Mike could. And so he waited.  
  
He saw her after a few minutes, standing very still in the shadows of the trees. Her eyes met his and he smiled at her and gave her a little nod. She smiled back, and turned to look at the person behind her.  
  
They came from the trees, a thin shadow and a small shadow and sat down beside him. The little Asian girl looked up at him with wide eyes and a small smile "Oh wow" She said "You're cool. You an alien."  
  
Jessie smiled at her "This is Mike, Rabbit. He's my friend."  
  
Rabbit smiled. Mike returned it "Hi Rabbit" He said  
  
Jessie looked at the child, and then back at Mike. She reached out and clasped his hand. Surprised, he looked at her, and then smiled.  
  
Jessie smiled "Remember this Rabbit. Mike and his family are part of Shadow now."  
  
Rabbit nodded "I'll remember" she said.  
  
Mike smiled "Yeah...I'll remember too." he said and squeezed Jessie's hand like a brother.  
  
~End~ 


End file.
